The price of Iranian rice, the main food staple in the country, has increased over 95 percent in one year, a government reporting agency has said.

Atotal of 1,731 tons of rice worth $2.3 million were exported from Iran to 27 countries during the current Iranian year’s first 10 months (March 21, 2021-Jan. 20), according to the spokesperson of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration. “Canada with 314 tons worth $429,060, Iraq with 368 tons worth $403,013, Germany with 245 tons worth $350,215, Turkey with 216 tons worth $289,403, Australia with 168 tons worth $246,271, the UAE with 133 tons worth $189,364 and the UK with 77 tons worth $106,545 were the seven biggest export destinations for Iranian rice,” Rouhollah Latifi was quoted as saying by ISNA. Other countries that purchased rice from Iran include Austria, Jordan, Estonia, Slovakia, Afghanistan, Italy, South Africa, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Denmark, Romania, Switzerland, Finland, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Kuwait, Georgia, Malaysia, Norway and the Netherlands. Latifi noted that 50 tons of rice husks worth $25,729 were exported to Pakistan during the same period.  

The Iranian government has ordered immediate imports of rice and potato into the country to tackle rising prices in the domestic market. Iran’s Food Security Headquarters, a government department controlled by the ministry of agriculture (MAJ), ordered the imports of 100,000 metric tons of potato and 200,000 tons of rice into the country following an emergency meeting held on Thursday. MAJ’s spokesman Alireza Rezazadeh said that the imports had been ordered to comply with a decree by Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi to fight hoarding and overpricing of food in the domestic market. Rezazadeh would not elaborate on the name of countries from where Iran will import potato but he said that rice shipments will gradually arrive from India, Pakistan and Thailand within the next two months. This is a first time in years that Iran decides to import potato, a crop which is produced in the country on a massive scale of around 5.2 million tons per year. However, reports on Thursday suggested that the MAJ had issued a decree with immediate effect to halt potato exports from Iran. The reports said that the government will impose a heavy duty on exports of potato from the country in the upcoming weeks. Rezazadeh said that the government will start distributing Iranian rice on a large scale later this week to contain surging prices that he attributed to hoarding practices. The decisions come as price of some premium verities of Iranian rice hit record highs of 1.15 million rials ($4.2) per kilogram on Wednesday. That comes as Pakistani or Indian rice varieties were selling for around $1 per kilogram in the market on the same day.

Kazakhstan’s Kyzylorda region will start exporting rice to Iran this year, Trend reports via the press service of the region’s administration. "Last year, along with traditional varieties, production of Iranian varieties was launched in the region for further export to Iran. Currently, negotiations are underway to send the first batch of 500 tons of Iranian rice varieties," the administration said. It was also noted that despite the lack of water, Kyzylorda rice farmers reaped a good harvest of 473,000 tons in 2018. Last year, rice sown area in the Kyzylorda region was reduced by 3,000 hectares, and oilseeds, in particular safflower sown area was increased from 1,659 hectares in 2013 to 8,404 hectares in 2018. This made it possible to organize the production of safflower oil and for the first time to enter the Chinese market with this product in 2018. Since last year, the region has also begun work on the introduction of high-yielding crops such as soybeans, and forage crops such as Sudan grass and sweet sorghum. This year, it is planned to reduce rice sown area by 2,171 hectares and increase forage sown area by 4,068 hectares and acreage of potatoes, vegetables and melons by 1,293 hectares. ---

Female farmers work on paddy fields planting rice after the fields are ploughed in the northern city of Rasht.  Planting season begins in mid-spring when the weather gets warm in the region. Rice seeds are first planted close together in one flooded paddy and grows into seedlings that will be transplanted into paddy fields.

Iran's self-sufficiency in food production has improved by 24% since the government of President Hassan Rouhani took office, mainly thanks to higher production of wheat and sugar. The rate stood at 55% when Rouhani took office in August 2013. It rose to 65%, 72% and 79% in the following years to fiscal March 2016-17, according to a report by the Persian daily Iran. Official statistics on the domestic agro-food sector point to major improvements over the years. Iran’s annual agricultural trade experienced an $8.1-billion deficit in the fiscal March 2013-14, which narrowed down to $1.5 billion in the last Iranian year (ended March 20, 2017). A record high of 14 million tons of wheat was domestically produced in the last fiscal year, leading to complete self-sufficiency for the first time in the history of Iran. The guaranteed price of wheat purchases had a threefold increase since 2013, more specifically from 4,200 rials ($0.1) in the fiscal March 2012-13 to 12,710 rials ($0.3) last year. The total value of wheat purchases showed a 17-fold increase, rising from 8.820 billion rials ($234.4 million) in the fiscal March 2012-13 to 147 billion rials ($3.9 million) last year. As a result, wheat reserves were boosted by 4,300 tons, increasing from 1,800 tons to 7,781,000 tons during the period. The total volume of purchases witnessed a 5.6% rise during the period, growing from 2.044 million tons to 11.520 million tons. There have been no wheat imports since Rouhani was elected president. This is while Iran imported 5.7 million tons of wheat the year before Rouhani took office. According to Food and Agriculture Organization, Iran is the 11th biggest wheat producer in the world. Every year, the government buys strategic crops, including wheat, from local farmers at guaranteed prices to build up its strategic reserves and control prices in the domestic market. According to Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati, sugarbeet production grew from 27 tons in the fiscal March 2013-14 to 54 tons in the last Iranian year. This growth, along with growth in sugarcane production, led to a rise in sugar production from 1.1 million tons to 1.65 million tons during the three-year period. Hojjati noted that 1.65 million tons of sugar were produced in the last Iranian year, registering a record high and meeting more than 74% of the domestic demand for the product. Domestic demand for sugar stands at 2.2 million tons annually. Among other agro crops, tea production has also seen growth over the past few years. Last year, the government bought 139,000 tons of fresh tea leaves from farmers–five times more compared to the fiscal March 2012-13. Production of dried tea stood at 30,000 tons last year. Mohammad Vali Rouzbehan, the head of Iran Tea Organization, told Financial Tribune in February that tea production registered a 60% increase last year, marking a record high in the last seven years. "About 110,000 tons of dried tea, worth between $550 million and $600 million, are consumed in Iran every year," he said, adding that last year, over $150 million worth of the product were produced domestically. "We managed to decrease imports by $50 million, which means more jobs were created and less foreign exchange left the country," he said. Three years ago, production of dried tea amounted to 14,000 tons and reached 19,600 tons last year, meeting 16% and over 18% of the domestic demand respectively. This year, with the production of around 31,200 tons, 28-29% of domestic demand was met. With government support, according to Rouzbehan, nearly 4,000 hectares of abandoned tea farms have been revived over the past three years. "Every hectare yields about 2 tons of dried tea. With the revival of each hectare, one direct and sustainable job is created," he said. The official believes that measures taken by the Rouhani government in recent years have encouraged farmers to take the job more seriously and remain hopeful that their efforts will pay off. Last year, the government increased its guaranteed purchase price for tea by 100%. "Low-interest loans worth $2.6 million have been allocated to tea factories to overhaul and renovate their machinery, sanitize the production process and optimize energy consumption," he said. > Livestock, Poultry Surplus Last year, there was an 18% rise in the production of livestock and poultry products, compared to the year Rouhani took office. Deputy Agriculture Minister Hassan Rokni said more than $1.2 billion worth of livestock and poultry products were exported over the 11 months to February 18, registering a $554.7 million trade surplus in the sector. “We had $136 million in trade deficit when President Hassan Rouhani took office in August 2013,” Rokni was also quoted as saying by IRNA earlier this month. About 62,600 tons of chicken worth $77.3 million, 750,000 tons of milk worth $683 million and 800,000 tons of eggs worth $53.5 million were exported during the 11-month period. According to Rokni, 815,000 tons of meat, over 9.5 million tons of milk, 2 million tons of chicken, 940,000 tons of eggs and 81,500 tons of honey were produced in Iran last year. > 40% Rise in Seafood Production Seafood production hit 1.07 million tons last year (March 2016-17), over 40% more compared to the fiscal March 2012-13, the head of Iran Fisheries Organization, Hassan Salehi, said. Shrimp production stood at 23,000 tons last year compared with less than 10,000 tons in March 2012-13. “About 3 tons of caviar were produced last year, a large part of which was exported to North American countries. Seafood exports reached a record high of $412 million last year and imports were less than $180 million," he was quoted as saying by IRNA. "The production of 164,000 tons of trout has made Iran the world’s biggest producer of this freshwater fish,” Salehi added. Iran's per capita seafood consumption was 10.6 kilograms last year, which was 3.1 kg more than the 7.5 kg consumed in March 2012-13. > Modernization of Irrigation Systems Rice production registered an 8% growth last year compared to the year before, as paddy fields in the north of the country were modernized. "The government of President Hassan Rouhani invested 6 trillion rials (about $156 million) on the mechanization of rice production," Kambiz Abbasi, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture, said in Jan. 2017. “Given the water shortage in Iran, the administration is not willing to expand paddy fields in provinces other than the northern Mazandaran and Gilan." According to the official, automation would cut rice harvesting costs by up to 70%. “The government will cover about 80% of the costs of buying the machinery by granting loans with a 15% interest rate,” he said. Abbasi said pre-harvest, harvest and post-harvest stages of rice production in 250,000 hectares of paddy fields have been automated under the Rouhani government, adding that previously only 100,000 hectares were mechanized.   Iranians consume about 3.2 million tons of rice a year while domestic production stands at around 2.2 million tons. Therefore, there is a need for around 1 million tons of imports every year. During the Rouhani administration, an unprecedented amount of investment was made in the development of water supply infrastructures when 100 trillion rials ($2.658 billion) were allocated to the ministries of agriculture and energy by the National Development Fund of Iran during the period to carry out projects in this field. Dam construction to restrain border waters and establishment of irrigation and drainage networks both grew by more than 50%. In addition, there was a fivefold rise in the implementation of alternative irrigation systems.

HAMBURG: Iran purchased about 40,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand in an international tender this week, a deal which traders say shows Iran's purchasing is returning to more normal patterns now that sanctions have been lifted.

Thai authorities announced in late January that they had secured a deal to sell rice to Iran for the first time in 10 years, with delivery of 50,000 to 100,000 tonnes of white rice due over the next one to two months. About 300,000 tonnes in shipments would be made in total, they said. Traders said Iran in past years largely purchased rice through lengthy direct negotiations as western sanctions imposed over the country's disputed nuclear programme had curtailed international payments via banks. "I think this sale in a tender shows Iran is starting to return to more traditional purchasing patterns after the relaxation of western sanctions," one European trader said on Friday. "The sale was made by a US multinational trading house." The Iranian state grains buyer GTC bought Hom Mali grade A rice from Thailand at about €600 (US$645) a tonne, they said. Prices had been sought in euros in the tender that closed on March 14. The rice was for shipment between April 15 and May 15 to Bandar Imam Khomeini or Bandar Abbas ports. Asia Golden Rice Co said in January that it had reached an agreement to sell rice to the Iranian government after Iran’s Health and Medical Education Ministry inspected the company's operations late last year.

he government has amended tariffs for importing rice by reducing it from the previous 40% to 26%, Trade Promotion Organization of Iran announced. It was announced on January 21 that the rate would stand at 5% following a series of tariff cuts on a list of agro-food products. Based on the new regulation, tariffs on butter, meat and bananas will be trimmed to 5% from 20%, 26% and 26% respectively. Tariffs for pulses have also been cut drastically. Split peas will be subject to a 10% tariff, down from the current 15%. Rates on various other types of beans have been reduced to 5%. The legislation describes these commodities as “basic, essential and urgent", adding that the new tariffs are currently in effect. The move is aimed at keeping food prices in check in the runup to the new Iranian year (starting March 21, 2017). Meat and agricultural products have witnessed a hike in the past few weeks. However, Shamsali Hajizadeh, the head of Agricultural Commission at Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, believes the reduction in tariffs is unlikely to lead to lower prices. “Manipulating tariff rates benefits neither the producer nor the consumer. Only the intermediaries stand to gain from it,” he told the Persian daily Shahrvand. Hajizadeh criticized the government for its “flawed” agricultural policies over the past few years. Instead of manipulating tariff rates, Hajizadeh believes that the government should focus on enhancing productivity to minimize costs and reduce prices. The Iranian government has a history of placing periodic bans on the import of rice and sugar, among other commodities, in support of domestic producers.  There is an all-out ban on rice imports during harvest seasons, for example. This year the measure was in place from July 21 to November 21. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Iranians consume more than 3 million tons of rice every year, of which almost 2.2 million tons are supplied by domestic farmers. “This [domestic supply] does not suffice demand. We need imports, but imports that are limited and controlled,” Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati said in November. Nonetheless, figures show rice imports have been on the rise, despite all the restrictive measures. Importers shipped more than 630,000 tons of rice valued at $527 million into the country during the nine months to December 20, 2016, which registered a 22% and 4% growth in volume and value respectively compared with the corresponding period of a year ago, according to the latest data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration. Sugar, chocolate and candy industries have been complaining in the past few months that the commodity was scarce due to restrictive regulations regarding imports. The government has dismissed the claim though. Temporary bans on sugar imports are imposed mostly to prevent oversupply and support local manufacturers.  According to Iran Sugar Association, Iran is currently 70% self-sufficient in sugar production and a complete self-sufficiency is possible within the next four years.   Sugar production is estimated to exceed 1.52 million tons by the end of the current fiscal year (March 20, 2017). Domestic demand for sugar stands at 2.2 million tons annually. Therefore, the import of close to 700,000 tons is needed, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. The government also imports a few hundred thousand tons for its strategic reserves every year.